Congupna has kicked off its 2022 Murray Football League campaign in style, dismantling a new-look Numurkah side 13.10 (88) to 8.5 (53) at Numurkah Showgrounds on Saturday, April 2.
A dominant first quarter was the catalyst for The Road, as the side kicked six unanswered goals to open up a 40-point lead at the first change.
Jak Trewin was the star for Congupna, setting the forward 50 alight with a scintillating six-goal performance.
He received great support from Hugo Ingham, Charles Boyer, Fraser Hicks and recruit Orien Kerr in what was a well-rounded performance from The Road.
While it was a disappointing start to the season for Sean Harrap and his Blues, they can take solace out of their response after quarter-time, fighting their way back in the contest to only go down by 35 points.
Charlie Hill was a standout in his first game for Numurkah, while Nathan Hicks, Shane Miller and Jarrod Holmes were gallant in the loss.
• Mulwala made a major opening round statement, thrashing five-time reigning premier Nathalia 14.16 (100) to 8.11 (59) on its Lonsdale Oval home deck.
In what was the Lions first senior win against the Purples in seven years, a final quarter surge would lift the side to victory after an inaccurate start in front of the sticks had them on the back foot early.
“It is a great result for the club and after a hard preseason it showed we are doing something right — it is only round one and we won’t get too carried away, but that reward is really important, so I was rapt for our guys,” Mulwala co-coach Rohan Davies said.
“We were really confident right from the first bounce, even coming into quarter-time three goals down I told the guys every indicator shows we were well on top we just weren’t able to capitalise in front of goal.
“They weren’t going to be able to hold us back for the full two hours and even though it took until the last quarter to break them, I always had confidence we were the better side.”
Coming from Mooroopna in the off-season, midfield maestro Matt Gorman quickly made his presence felt in Lions colours, dominating in the contest and kicking three goals to be judged best afield.
“Matt was great kicking three goals from the midfield and winning all the contested footy, he was just an animal and we’ve all come to expect that from him having watched him at training,” Davies said of Gorman’s Mulwala debut.
“Cam Magher was also excellent in a new role up on the wing alongside Adam Rouel, while the veteran Sean Robinson was awesome up forward kicking four goals.”
Harrison Hawks, Jackson Farrell and Bailey Bell stood tall for Nathalia in the loss, as they look to bounce back on home deck next week against Moama.
• It was the Darren Ewing show at Tongala Recreation Reserve, as the Blues spearhead bagged 13 majors in his side’s 28.11 (179) to 4.6 (30) mauling of Echuca United.
Hailed as the team to beat this season, Tongala wasted no time in reminding the competition of its immense firepower in what was an eye-catching performance from start to finish.
“We were happy with the way we went about it obviously; we moved the ball the way we wanted and stuck to team-oriented footy; we didn’t get selfish with it,” Tongala coach Jordan Souter told the Riverine Herald.
“We did have a few injuries during the week, so we brought up a few blokes who had really good preseasons that haven’t really had their chance to play senior footy in the last couple of years.
“Dom Watt, Bailey Cox, Bryce Denham and Malcolm Hedges all came up and they played really good games.”
Blues fans also got their first look at star recruits Brock McLean and Ryan Nyhuis, who immediately showed themselves to be a class above.
“The two recruits we’ve got are top-class,” Souter said.
“Brock had a lot of the footy and used it really well, while Ryan’s a bit of a general across that half-back line, and we were able to throw him into the midfield.”
•Moama got its 2022 season off to a bright start, destroying Rumbalara 14.10 (94) to 2.2 (14) at Moama Recreation Reserve.
A win sparked by a dominant defensive performance, Rumba simply could not get anything going, only registering one behind from the first three quarters.
Up forward Dylan Joyce did the damage for the Magpies kicking four goals, while Callum Doyle, Thomas Sheldon and Jye Smith were also excellent in the black and white.
While it was a dark day for Rumba, Kane Atkinson, Kyal Atkinson and Joshua Baginski held their heads up high.
• Cobram opened its season with a dominant 18.20 (128) to 4.6 (30) win against Finley at Scott Oval.
Matthew DeMaio and Darcy Pridham-McCormack were clinical up forward for the Tigers combining for nine goals, while Luca Allen, Harry Beasley and Jack Wilson were all prominent.
While it was a poor showing from the Cats, Matt Jackson battled hard to kick two majors and Cody Szust, Reilly Rennick and Isaac Corvo toiled away through the midfield.
• Todd Gallagher made Hardinge St Oval his own on Saturday, kicking 10 goals in Deniliquin Rams’ 19.14 (128) to 4.0 (24) demolition of Barooga.
It seemed everything the Rams spearhead touched turned to gold, as his team dominated in all aspects of the game.
Hayden Barker proved a perfect foil with four goals of his own, while Bryce Scoullar, Lachlan MacDonald and Reid Crowe were Denilquin’s prime movers around the ground.
Daniel Johnston, Riley Gow, Kris Bextream and Cooper Trembath were gallant in the heavy defeat for Barooga.